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Trump, still convinced Putin ‘wants to end the war,’ lukewarm on Zelenskyy’s request for Tomahawks

October 18, 2025
in News
Trump, still convinced Putin ‘wants to end the war,’ lukewarm on Zelenskyy’s request for Tomahawks
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President Donald Trump isn’t ready to provide the Ukrainian military with the Tomahawk missiles President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to the White House to ask for Friday.

Trump stopped short of ruling out that possibility during a meeting in the White House Cabinet Room, musing that it might have forced Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table. But he also said he was wary of escalation and the toll it might take on the American military.

“Tomahawks are a big deal,” said Trump, who noted that the U.S. needs the weapons for its own use. “They’re a very powerful weapon, but they’re a very dangerous weapon, and it could mean big, you know, escalation. It could mean a lot of bad things can happen.”

That hesitation is a setback for Zelenskyy who, in his third visit to the Trump White House this year, had hoped to persuade the president to provide the long-range missiles that could enable a stronger offensive inside Russia — a move Trump, like President Joe Biden, fears could make the war worse. And it comes just days after Trump suggested sending Tomahawks to Ukraine was a real possibility.

Zelenskyy, speaking with reporters shortly after leaving the White House, said that Trump made clear that his reluctance to provide the weapons stemmed from concerns about escalating the conflict and U.S. missile stockpiles running low.

Asked if he was more or less confident about getting Tomahawks, Zelenskyy responded with a wry smile: “I’m realistic,” he said, adding that Trump’s reluctance was only the U.S. position “for today.”

But Zelenskyy, in his most candid remarks to date, said he still hopes the US will provide a weapons package that can “pressure” Putin.

“Ukraine, in principle, over the years has become strong enough,” he said. “But we can’t today fight with our [air defense systems], for example, against ballistic missiles. And also against these hits made by ballistic missiles that our energy [infrastructure] just can’t withstand,” Zelenskyy told reporters in Ukrainian, adding that he had been asking for that type of pressure since before Trump was in office.

Trump’s withholding toward Ukraine comes as the president discusses new ways to squeeze Russia. In addition to the Tomahawks talk, Trump announced earlier this week that he’s received a commitment from India to halt its purchases of Russian oil, although India has not confirmed the president’s claim. And Senate Republicans indicated Thursday that they intend to bring a bill to impose new sanctions on Russia up for a vote within the next 30 days. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, during a meeting with NATO counterparts in Europe this week, made his strongest comments on the war to date, vowing that Russia must face harsh consequences.

Riding high off the Middle East peace deal he helped broker last week, Trump is eager to build on his diplomatic momentum. Recounting his two-hour phone call Thursday with Putin, who he now plans to meet in Budapest in a matter of weeks, Trump suggested again that the Russian leader is ready to end the war.

“I think that things are coming along pretty well,” Trump said. “I think President Putin wants to end the war.”

Trump has said as much before only to see Putin escalate his aerial assault on Ukraine’s cities. And Zelenskyy was unconvinced that the Russian leader was any more serious this time than the last.

In a social media post following the meeting, Trump called for a peace deal that would freeze the conflict along the current battle lines. “It is time to stop the killing, and make a DEAL!,” Trump wrote in the post. “Enough blood has been shed, with property lines being defined by War and Guts. They should stop where they are. Let both claim Victory, let History decide!”

Asked by reporters about conceding territory as part of a peace deal, Zelenskyy called that matter, “very sensitive and the most difficult question,” underlining a major point of daylight with Russia, which has pushed for agreeing on a new border before any ceasefire.

“Our position is that first we need a ceasefire,” he said.

Zelenskyy, who praised Trump earlier for achieving a ceasefire in Gaza, said he would gladly meet with the Russian leader and reiterated a willingness to cede land for meaningful long-term security guarantees in order to end the war.

“I agree with the president,” Zelenskyy said. “Both sides have to stop. But between us, it’s about Putin. Because we didn’t begin this war.”

Seated across from Trump during the public portion of their meeting, he also suggested that a stronger Ukrainian offensive on the battlefield could change Putin’s calculation.

“We understand what we need to push Putin to the negotiation table,” Zelenskyy said.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Zelenskyy suggested that Putin’s call with Trump a day earlier had been about forestalling any weapons package that included long-range missiles.

“I think that Russia is afraid,” he said. “They understand what we can do.”

Trump, asserting several times that “bad blood” between Zelenskyy and Putin was a major impediment to ending the war, said that his forthcoming sit-down with Putin would not include the Ukrainian leader.

A European diplomat, who was granted anonymity to discuss private discussions, said, “we hope this conversation, if it takes place, will be used to increase the pressure on Putin … peace through strength.”

Asked if he thought Putin was stringing him along in an effort to prolong the war, Trump acknowledged that it’s a possibility but said he didn’t think so.

“I’ve been played all my life by the best of them, and I came out really well,” he said. “It’s possible…but I think that I’m pretty good at this stuff. I think that he wants to make a deal.”

Trump’s somewhat glib suggestions this week that he could give Ukraine “thousands” of Tomahawks appeared to be mostly a hypothetical at this point — dangled as a possibility by a president eager to hasten a diplomatic resolution to another conflict.

Asked at the outset about whether he could approve Zelenskyy’s request, Trump said it would amount to “an escalation” but demurred about where he stood. “We’ll be talking about that.”

A Ukrainian official, granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said that Zelenskyy did not intend to adjust his approach following Trump’s announcement Thursday that he’d meet with Putin.

“We will show how Tomahawks can change the situation at war,” the Ukrainian official said. “We will also tell how the air defense systems can change the situation if we actually get what we were promised. The missiles have been the workhorse of the Navy’s long-range strikes over the past several decades, hitting targets deep inside Iran, Yemen, Iraq, and Syria. American warships carrying the missiles are now parked off the coast of Venezuela.”

Tomahawks are a long-range, high-precision cruise missile with a roughly 1,000 to 1,500-mile reach and a warhead of about 1,000 pounds. “Sailors will sometimes call it the Hallmark — as in, when you mean to send the very best,” said Tom Karako, director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Missile Defense Project.

The missiles fly low, following the earth’s natural terrain, making them harder to hit with missile defense systems. A major upside for Ukraine is the missiles were originally designed and built in the 1980s to avoid those Soviet air defense systems, variations of which Russia still uses.

America’s use of the Tomahawk has, in recent years, outpaced production, which means the most realistic option for Trump is to send Ukraine “a couple hundred,” and not the thousands he floated, Karako said. “We’ve just been consuming Tomahawks like candy,” he said, citing the recent strikes on Iran that used more than two dozen.

Trump acknowledged the shortage of Tomahawks is “a problem,” but said it would be a big part of the leaders’ private conversation.

“Hopefully they won’t need it,” Trump continued. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get the war over without thinking about Tomahawks.”

Zelenskyy interjected that Ukraine could offset U.S. contributions of Tomahawk missiles by sharing its cutting-edge drone technology.

Asked about Ukrainian drones, Trump confirmed his interest.

“They make a very good drone,” he said.

Veronika Melkozerova contributed to this report.

The post Trump, still convinced Putin ‘wants to end the war,’ lukewarm on Zelenskyy’s request for Tomahawks appeared first on Politico.

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